The "Colline Caiatine" where this grows are the last gasp of the Apennine mountains as they fade into the hills towards Benevento. Pallagrello Bianco is the easiest to grow and the highest yielding of Alois's three native varieties, compared to pallagrello nero and casavecchia. It needs to reach full phenolic ripeness to yield interesting wine, and in these volcanic soils at 150m asl. it reaches a pH of 3.4 with less than 5 grams of acids, quite low in relative terms compared to other Campanian whites but the grape can't be harvested early with any success. Soft press and free run juice only (the rest goes to Alois's second line). It's inoculated with neutral yeasts, and given a 25-30 day fermentation at 12-14C to yield green apple and cherry blossoms flavours, gentle lees, and sweet herbs that emerge with air in a more Mediterranean expression. The palate is gentle and soft, with creamy texture and lowish acids, perhaps closer to Fiano than greco to give a comparative. A more gentle wine in any case, ready to enjoy or hold short term. 13.5% alcohol. Tasted May 2024.
